Rescuers were offered a critical stress debriefing after the accident.

“A lot of our firefighters do have children about the same age,” said Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman for the Pasadena Fire Department. “It does have an effect.”

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A mother and daughter on their way to school were killed in a six-car pile-up in Pasadena today, fire officials said.

Seven people were injured in the crash, including two who were also the children of the killed woman. The woman was driving east along Orange Grove Boulevard when the accident happened shortly before 8 a.m., said Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman for the Pasadena Fire Department. The road is busy during the morning commute.

According to witnesses, the woman’s Toyota Sequoia SUV started swerving in and out of lanes, causing a “chain reaction crash,” Derderian said. The reason for her erratic driving was not immediately clear, Derderian said.

The woman’s Sequoia stopped at the Martelo Avenue intersection. Another vehicle ended up on the front lawn of a residence. The woman, who was in her 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene, Derderian said.

Heavy machinery was needed to extract her children from the badly mangled vehicle. One daughter, about 10, was found dead, she said. A 5-year-old girl was transported in critical condition to a nearby hospital, along with a 16-month-old boy, whose condition was listed as serious.

A man and a woman in their 30s, who had been in separate vehicles, were also taken to a hospital, Derderian said. Three other patients were treated at the scene. Orange Grove Boulevard will remain closed for several more hours between Altadena Drive and Allen Avenue, she said.